code4lib 2012

Linked Library Data activity over the last year has seen bibliographic data sets and vocabularies proliferating from traditional library sources. We've reached a point where regular libraries don't have to go it alone to be on the Semantic Web. There is a quickly growing pool of things we can actually link to, and everyone's existing data can be immediately enriched by participating.
This is a quick and dirty road to getting your catalog onto the Linked Data web. The talk will take you from start to finish, using Free Software tools to establish a namespace, put up a SPARQL endpoint, make a simple data model, convert MARC records to RDF, and link the results to major existing data sets (skipping conveniently over pesky processing time). A small amount of "why linked data?" content will be covered, but the primary goal is to leave you able to reproduce the process and start linking your catalog into the web of data. Appropriate documentation will be on the web.

Linked data is poised to replace MARC as the basis for the new library bibliographic framework. For libraries to benefit from linked data, they must learn about it, experiment with it, demonstrate its usefulness, and take a leadership role in its deployment.
The eXtensible Catalog Organization (XCO) offers open-source software for libraries that is “linked-data-ready.” XC software prepares MARC and Dublin Core metadata for exposure to the semantic web, incorporating FRBR Group 1 entities and registered vocabularies for RDA elements and roles. This presentation will include a software demonstration, proposed software architecture for creation and management of linked data, a vision for how libraries can migrate from MARC to linked data, and an update on XCO progress toward linked data goals.

Within a relatively short time since their introduction, distributed version control systems (DVCS) like Git and Mercurial have enjoyed widespread adoption for versioning code. It didn’t take long for the library development community to start discussing the potential for using DVCS within our applications and repositories to version data. After all, many of the features that have made some of these systems popular in the open source community to version code (e.g. lightweight, file-based, compressed, reliable) also make them compelling options for versioning data. And why write an entire versioning system from scratch if a DVCS solution can be a drop-in solution? At the California Digital Library (CDL) we’ve started using Git and Mercurial in some of our applications to version data. This has proven effective in some situations and unworkable in others. This presentation will be a practical case study of CDL’s experiences with using DVCS to version data. We will explain how we’re incorporating Git and Mercurial in our applications, describe our successes and failures and consider the issues involved in repurposing these systems for data versioning.

My name is Nishit Bhuva and I am the Partner Development Manager in the Developer Network team at Elsevier. I am sure many of the Code4Lib members must be aware of SciVerse Applications that are developed on the Elsevier platform. For the members who are new to this platform, the apps on SciVerse basically assist researchers in accelerating their scientific study by saving time and effort and presenting targeted information, rather than having them go through the vast amount of scientific data available.

Oregon State University and the Digital Library Federation are sponsoring five scholarships to promote gender and cultural diversity. Each scholarship will provide up to $1,000 to cover travel costs and
conference fees for one qualified attendee to attend the 2012 Code4Lib Conference, which will be held in Seattle, Washington, from Monday,February 6 through Thursday, February 9.

The Code4Lib scholarship committee will award two scholarships per category, awarding the remaining scholarship to the best remaining candidate in either category. The Code4Lib scholarship committee will
award these scholarships based on merit and need.

ELIGIBILITY:
Applicants, if eligible, may apply for both scholarships, but no applicant will receive more than one scholarship. Past winners of either scholarship are not eligible for either scholarship. Scholarship recipients will be required to write a short trip report to be submitted to the scholarships committee by February 17, 2012.

THE OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE DIGITAL LIBRARY FEDERATION DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS
The Gender Diversity Scholarships will provide up to $1,000 to cover travel costs and conference fees for two qualified applicants to attend the 2012 Code4Lib Conference. Any woman or transgendered person
who is interested in actively contributing to the mission and goals of the Code4Lib Conference is encouraged to apply.

THE OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE DIGITAL LIBRARY FEDERATION MINORITY SCHOLARSHIPS
The Minority Scholarships will provide up to $1,000 to cover travel costs and conference fees for two qualified applicants to attend the 2012 Code4Lib Conference. To qualify for this scholarship, an applicant must be interested in actively contributing to the mission and goals of the Code4Lib Conference and must be of Hispanic or Latino, Black orAfrican-American, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or American Indian or Alaskan Native descent.

If your organization would like to help sponsor the Code4Lib 2012 Conference, please select a sponsorship level and amount, and email code4libcon@googlegroups.com

Bronze (under $2500) -- Name in program as a bronze sponsor, name on
t-shirt, acknowledgement from the podium

Silver ($2500-$4999) -- Name in program as a silver sponsor, small
logo on t-shirt, acknowledgement from the podium

Gold ($5000-$7499) -- Name in program as a gold sponsor, medium logo
on t-shirt, acknowledgement from the podium at the opening and closing
of the conference, 1 free conference registration

Platinum ($7500 and above) -- Name in program as a platinum sponsor,
large logo on t-shirt, acknowledgement from the podium at the opening
and closing of the conference, 2 free conference registrations,
opportunity to include handout in the registration packet